By Nikki Ghorpade, Ducks Unlimited
The Maurice River Watershed (pictured above) is one of the 22 NAWCA program sites located in New Jersey. Image credit to CU Maurice River.
History and Background
In 1989, Congress directed the Department of the Interior to compare the estimated total number of wetland acres in the 1780s [Revolutionary Wartime] and in the 1980s in areas that now comprise each state. This request included an estimated percentage of wetlands loss to be calculated in each state during this 200-year period. To their dismay, a 53-percent loss of historical wetlands was estimated to have occurred over just two centuries.
On the twelfth of December in 1989, President George H. W. Bush signed The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) into law after he campaigned on the policy of “no net loss" of wetlands. The goal of no net loss is to balance nationwide wetland loss with wetlands reclamation, mitigation, and restoration efforts so that the total acreage of wetlands in the country does not decrease. It was first adopted as a national goal in 1977 under Jimmy Carter’s administration. He was followed by a line of Presidents who also made this pledge to the American people. NAWCA was a natural extension of that pledge.
NAWCA is a non-regulatory, incentive-based, voluntary wetlands conservation program. It stimulates public-private partnership with a required 1-1 match. This means that every dollar of federal money allotted to NAWCA must be matched by a dollar (or more) from non-federal sources like non-profit organizations, or state agencies. Matching is extremely effective at increasing the money going towards protecting, restoring, and managing wetland habitats because the highly competitive nature of these grants makes it so awarded proposals usually garner 2,3, and often 4-to-1 matches. Additionally, the program fosters broad partnerships between non-profits and state and local governments to ensure work is being done in the areas of most need for the community and habitat.
NAWCA functions as the preeminent program for wetlands conservation for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and was appropriated at $48.5 million in fiscal year 2022.
Administration
Unlike other grant programs, grant allocation is a multi-phase process that can take up to 9 months from submittal. The review stages between are vital to ensure that prioritization and distribution of NAWCA funds is fair. Project proposals are submitted every year for projects that need funding. They are then reviewed and ranked by a panel of state NGOs and Joint Ventures which helps administer the program under the guidance of the USFWS. Proposals are ranked and weighted accordingly by specific NAWCA staff members and are then returned to the council. Once returned to the council, it is usually signed off on quickly. The final stage of this process is the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission’s formal signature on programs.
Grants are assigned to NAWCA grant administrators who reach out to program contacts to verify that everything has remained the same some months ago. They then work with the program’s contact to create the final program award letter. Once the letter arrives, it is the full responsibility of program directors to initiative the actions of the program and begin using the money that was awarded to them.
Current Status
To date, NAWCA has helped fund more than 3,150 projects on more than 30 million acres in all 50 states as well as areas of Canada and Mexico. 6,350 partners ranging from private landowners to state governments have worked together to conserve wildlife habitat through matching funds.
Each year in the spring supporters and partners of NAWCA advocate to Congress in support of the program. These organizations work with Congress in support of annual funding and the reauthorization of NAWCA to keep building on the Act’s wetlands conservation success.
Delaware River Impact
NAWCA is an important tool for conserving wetlands in the Delaware River watershed. There are ongoing and past projects in all four of the Basin states [DE, NJ, PA, NY], though till now there has not been a NAWCA project in the Delaware Watershed portion of New York.
Basin State Projects
Delmarva Oasis
Aerial image of Great Cyprus Swamp which sits within the Delmarva Peninsula. Image credit to Delaware Wild Lands.
In 2022, a project was approved in Delaware assisting in the Delmarva Oasis. Ducks Unlimited partnered with other organizations, like Delaware Wild Lands, as well as local counties to match the million-dollar grant with $2 million. This project preserves and restores 459 acres of varying wetland habitats including over 400 acres of declining wetland types. It also protects 240 acres of mixed upland forest and 371 acres of other uplands. The project area is an important part of a major migration corridor in the Atlantic Flyway, which supports priority waterfowl species, neotropical migrants and other land birds, shorebirds, and wading birds.
Southeast New Jersey Conservation Initiative
Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area (NJ) has seen habitat enhancement through NAWCA funding. Image credit to Ducks Unlimited.
The Southeast New Jersey Conservation Initiative is a multi-year landscape-scale initiative within the coastal wetlands focus area of the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture.
Four-phase project in New Jersey – Southeast New Jersey Conservation Initiative. Phase 1 and 2 are complete, the third and fourth phases are active now.
Pennsylvania Game Commission’s State Game Lands – Mercer & Lawrence Counties
In 2019, Ducks Unlimited partnered with Pennsylvania Game Commission, Waterfowl USA, and private contributors to acquire 126 acres of wetland habitat to be included in the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s State Game Lands in Mercer and Lawrence counties. This project will conserve habitat for numerous Federal and State threatened, endangered, and concern species.
New York
New York is the state with the most opportunity for expanding usage of NAWCA grants. In New York, 37 NAWCA projects are either completed or underway, conserving near 93,000 acres of wildlife habitat. However, most of these projects have taken place in the Lake Ontario Watershed, and there are opportunities to utilize these funds in the Upper Delaware River, specifically in New York. The Coalition is working closely with Ducks Unlimited and NY partners to explore the opportunities of how NAWCA funds can be better utilized for restoration projects in the Upper Delaware.